08.29.05

“Hey Casey,” the Pirates fan screamed from the upper deck at PNC Park in the ninth inning on Sunday. “I don’t care where you’re from. You still stink!”

Pittsburgh native Sean Casey didn’t hear the catcall. But he responded, nevertheless, taking John Grabow’s very next pitch 457 feet out to center field for a two-run home run that put the final stamp on the Reds’ 7-2 win over the Pirates.

“That’s great,” Casey said when informed of what had transpired. “That’s classic. You gotta love when that happens.”

The Reds have a lot to love about the way they’re playing lately.

They’ve responded from their well-documented struggles of the season’s first half much in the same way Casey responded to that jeering fan.

Yeah, except Casey wasn’t responding to that jeering fan. As Castrovince notes above, Casey couldn’t hear the guy in the upper deck. In fact, it is hard to figure out how Castronivce could hear him.

Of course, properly equipped, the hardcore fan does have the power to affect the outcome of such a contest.